Write The Book

Vermont Author Jennifer McMahon, whose new novel is The Children on the Hill (Simon & Schuster).  Jennifer's recent reads include: The Fervor, by Alma Katsu My Heart Is a Chainsaw, by Stephen Graham Jones This week’s Write the Book Prompt was generously suggested by my guest, Jennifer McMahon, who sent me this note: At its heart, The Children on the Hill is an exploration of monsters and monstrousness. So my writing prompt is to create your own monster! What type of monster is it? Does it have a name? What does it look like? What does it sound like? Where does your monster live? Who can see it? What does your monster eat? What special abilities does it have? Can it run fast? Is it super strong? Can it hibernate for years? What does your monster want most? What’s stopping your monster from getting it? What is your monster most afraid of? Now, write two scenes, the first from the point of view of a person (maybe a character you’ve already been working with) coming across your monster. Where do they meet?

Melanie Finn, winner of the Vermont Book Award in Fiction 2021, and author of The Hare (Two Dollar Radio).  Melanie's favorite recent reads include: Empireland, by Sathnam Sanghera On The Black Hill, by Bruce Chatwin Orlando, by Virginia Woolf   This week's Write the Book Prompt was generously suggested by my guest, Melanie Finn, who recommends starting "outside the box" when it comes to building character. For her protagonist Rosie, the sense of smell is a strong guide; she's really aware of how things smell. When you consider your own characters, think about all their senses: color and sound, but also how a character  might feel the sensation of silk or wet grass. Melanie says that sometimes we get caught up with the obvious—what is seen or heard—and forget to convey the world through all the senses. Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion. Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro 731  

Kurt Johnson and his daughter, Ellie Johnson, who have collaborated on a new novel titled The Barrens: A Novel of Love and Death in the Canadian Arctic (Arcade).  This week I have two Write the Book Prompts to offer, thanks to the generosity of my guests. Kurt Johnson suggests writing a paragraph the beginning and end of which you know ahead of time. Allow the middle to be more stream of consciousness. Ellie suggests writing an adventure. This could be a story, or a scene, or the beginnings of something longer. Pick an area of the world where a character is camping, and write about what goes wrong.  Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion. Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro 730

Maya Rodale, best-selling and award-winning author of funny feminist historical fiction and romance. Her latest novel is Mad Girls of New York (Berkley). This week’s Write the Book Prompt was suggested by my guest, Maya Rodale, who said it was inspired by our conversation. Take this scenario and write it forward:  She was in a rush to get downtown–the sooner the better and definitely before it was too late. But when she turned onto Broadway, what she saw shocked her. She would not be getting downtown any time soon … Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion. Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro 729

Michelle Huneven's latest is Search, a funny novel about a congregational search committee, told as a memoir with recipes (Penguin). This week’s Write the Book Prompt comes from Michelle Huneven’s book, Search. It’s one that the search committee is offered when they begin working with the consultant named Helen: IMAGINE YOUR LIFE AS A MOVIE THAT YOU’VE STEPPED OUT OF TO BE HERE TODAY. WHAT’S THE TITLE? THE SETTING? THE PLOT?   Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion.   Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro 728

An interview from the archives - complete with the old music! - with Robert Boswell, award-winning author of seven novels, including Tumbledown (Graywolf Press). Robert Boswell published a book on craft in 2008, The Half-Known World. In this book, he details how important it is for writers to give themselves over to what he calls the "half-known world" of fiction, where surprise and meaning converge. Consider this in terms of an exercise: this week's Write the Book Prompt is to think about surprise converging with meaning. An example of my own: a driver stops at a quick mart due to a mundane but necessary need: coffee, perhaps, or a bathroom break. Who might she meet or run into there? How does this affect her day, or the trip she's embarking on? Did she want to be seen? Has this person affected her life in the past? How will this encounter affect the story? Consider this week how surprise might come up against meaning in your own work, offering an opportunity to change the narrative in a valuable way.  Go

An interview from the archives with Jacqueline Woodson, about her National Book Award winning memoir-in-verse, Brown Girl Dreaming (Nancy Paulsen Books). Have you ever tried to write a story in verse? Not necessarily a long story. Maybe an anecdote you would share with a friend about something that happened to you on a random Monday afternoon. This week’s Write the Book Prompt is to consider a story from your life, and write about it in verse. If it will help, set yourself some rules before you begin. If you don’t like rhymes, don’t worry about rhymes. You can make your verse fit some syllabic intention, you can create a pantoum, in which the last line is often the same as the first, or an abecedarian, which spells out the alphabet, word by word or line by line. There are many ways to write verse, and the poet is in charge. Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion.   Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro 726

Mark Wish and Elizabeth Coffey, editors of a new anthology: Coolest American Stories 2022 (Coolest Stories Press). This year marked the inaugural publication of the book, which will come out each January.  This week’s Write the Book Prompt is actually a publishing prompt (because we all know how hard it is to send out work once we've written it). Polish up your coolest, most twisty-turny story, make a list of 15 publications you think might make a good match for that story, and send it to three at a time until someone acknowledges your cool with an acceptance. After which, being a good person, you will let the others know you’ve found a home for your cool story. OR submit it to Coolest American Short Stories 2023; hey, you never know! Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion.   Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro 725

A conversation from the archives with the author Vikram Chandra about his nonfiction book, Geek Sublime: The Beauty of Code, the Code of Beauty (Graywolf Press).  This week’s Write the Book Prompt is to include a few (let's say three) of the following items together in a story, scene, poem, or essay:  a dock fender for a boat  the bow of a violin a leaky pen a basketball hoop an Apple II Computer Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion.   Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro 724

An interview from the archives with local author and Queen City Ghostwalk Guide Thea Lewis about her book Haunted Inns and Ghostly Getaways of Vermont, published by The History Press. This week’s Write the Book Prompt is to imagine a creepy scenario that has always frightened you. Maybe it has to do with going down into a basement, or up into an attic. Maybe it centers on a certain person who leaves you feeling unsettled. Are you afraid of water, of heights, of open spaces? Focus on one of your most haunting fears and consider how you might turn it around. If the idea of being up high frightens you, maybe write about a person who delights in great heights: a gymnast, or Phillipe Petit, who famously walked a tightrope strung between the twin towers in 1974. If you’re afraid of water, imagine being a long-distance swimmer. Write about this person’s attitude, and then midway into the piece, let your own phobia slip in and change what they are feeling or experiencing. What happens? Good luck with your work in th

An interview with Rachel Foster, co-founder and executive council co-chair of World Without Exploitation, who recently wrote an opinion piece in Vermont Digger: "Burlington controversy part of effort to decriminalize sex trade," and Mary Speta, Chief Impact Officer for Amirah, an organization offering help to survivors of sexual exploitation. This week's interview is not about a specific book, but the subject of Rachel's recent piece and what is happening around the commercial sex trade in Burlington and elsewhere. This week's Write the Book Prompt concerns setting. Rachel Foster's other labor of love (which she also founded) is the Brooklyn Cat Cafe. One of the earliest cat cafes in the U.S., the Brooklyn Cat Cafe’s mission is to save Brooklyn’s cats by offering a hip and inviting destination where cat lovers of all ages can interact with adoptable animals – and one another. I love this idea, and I think it could be a great setting for a story, scene or poem. So… this week’s Write the Book Prompt is to write

An interview with the author Karen Joy Fowler, whose new historical novel is Booth, which concerns the family behind one of the most infamous figures in American history: John Wilkes Booth. The book came out last week from Putnam. This week’s Write the Book Prompt was generously offered by my guest, Karen Joy Fowler, who suggests picking one of the great emotions:  fury, joy, envy, terror.  Write a scene from your childhood in which you experienced that emotion, maybe, but not necessarily, for the first time.  If you are in the midst of a fictional project, write the scene for one of your characters instead. Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion.   Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro 721

An archive interview (from my Radiator broadcast days!) from the archives with New Hampshire author Toby Ball, author of three crime novels published by Overlook Press: The Vaults, about which we spoke in 2010,  Scorch City, which he wrote in 2011, and Invisible Streets the third in the series and the subject of this conversation. This week’s Write the Book Prompt is to consider the following list of sentences and phrases, pick two, and put them in a story, scene, poem, or simple paragraph. Here they are: * If she was going to argue all night… * Keeping in mind the Pomeranian on the kitchen floor… * Why not (a) Manhattan?  * His itching feet called to be released. * Staring at the melting ice statue, he spoke very slowly.  Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion. Music Credit: John Fink 720

A new interview with Vermont Author Kathryn Davis, who has a memoir out: Aurelia, Aurélia (Graywolf Press).  This week’s Write the Book Prompt was generously offered by my guest, Kathryn Davis, who teaches a novel writing class, among others. They have undertaken the exercise in that class of writing a “faux” novel. Without overthinking it, come up with a title and ten chapter headings for an as yet unplanned non-existent novel. Then write one of the chapters - no more than three pages. You can keep it going if you want. Kathryn says it’s a great exercise, and in doing it alongside her students, she herself has come up with a lot of great material to use. Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion.   Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro 719   

Vermont Author and Documentarian Jim Carrier, whose book Charity: The Heroic and Heartbreaking Story of Charity Hospital in Hurricane Katrina came out as an audiobook in 2021. This week's Write the Book Prompt was inspired by my interview with Jim Carrier, whose book Charity tells the story of one hospital in one storm, through the closer detailed narratives of individuals who were caught up in the tragedy. Consider these famous catastrophic moments in history, and either research or imagine a single human story from the incident to write about. Write a scene, a story, a poem, or just a paragraph.  A hurricane, such as Katrina, Charley, Sandy, or another that inspires you to write Tōhoku Earthquake and Tsunami, and the related  Fukushima Nuclear Disaster And, on a smaller scale, if you prefer to consider a longer-ago historical event, The Hindenburg   Good luck with your work in the coming week, and please listen next week for another prompt or suggestion.    Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro 718    

Paula Martinac, author of seven novels. Since we spoke in 2017 about  The Ada Decades (Bywater Books), she has published three others. Her latest is Dear Miss Cushman (Bywater Books). This week’s Write the Book Prompt is to consider the next food item you see - fruit, meat, vegetable, fast food, food on the street, in a gourmet store, at a cafeteria, on your kitchen shelf - and write about someone who is thinking about, relishing, or not relishing that food.  Good luck with your work in the coming week, and please listen next week for another prompt or suggestion.    Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro 717

Vermont author and exceptional literary citizen Nancy Means Wright passed away on January 19 at the age of 95. This week I aired an interview with Nancy from the early days of the show. Many thanks to Seven Days for granting me permission to read their obituary for Nancy on air (with the stipulation that I read it in its entirety).  This week’s Write the Book Prompt is to write a short or maybe even longer fictional piece featuring an historical figure, much as Nancy Means Wright featured Mary Wollstonecraft in two mystery novels. Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion.   Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro 716    

An interview from the archives with the author Rachel Urquhart about her novel The Visionist (Little Brown). This week’s Write the Book Prompt is to invent a group that has diminished from a large, powerful organization or community to something smaller, with minimal influence. What does this group look like? What happened to change their situation? What characters come to mind when you consider this scenario, and how might each of them react to their change in size and scope? Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion.   Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro 715

Author Caitlin Hamilton Summie, whose new novel is Geographies of the Heart (Fomite).  This week’s Write the Book Prompt was generously offered by my guest, Caitlin Hamilton Summie. Consider the following prompt: “I didn’t want to steal it, but I did.” Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion.   Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro 714

Two shorter interviews from the archives: Jojo Moyes, about her book One Plus One (Penguin); and Heath Hardage Lee, about Winnie Davis: Daughter of the Lost Cause (Potomac Books).  Today’s Write the Book Prompt is to consider this sentence, and either start with it, or let it inform your work: “She’d only been a crossing guard for two days.” Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion.   Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro 714